Vehicle park for parking vehicles below a water surface

ABSTRACT

A parking garage is constructed substantially as a ship hull and includes a container which is preferably made of steel or reinforced concrete parts and is subdivided into three parking levels. The container can be sunk below the water surface of a lake or river at the intended location. At the corresponding predetermined depth the garage can be leveled by raising and lowering devices arranged on the longitudinal sides of the container and which substantially bore into the bed as a result of their own weight and additional weights placed on the top of the container. In the operating state the raising and lowering devices are controlled by sensors and activated, so that even in the case of positional changes, e.g. due to different loads, an exact leveling of the parking garage is ensured. The garage is provided with two, longitudinally spaced tubular tunnels, flanged to the longitudinal side of the container and connected to the lake or river bank.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a garage or park for parking vehicles below awater surface, particularly below the water surface of a lake.

It is known to install a car park building or multistory car park garagein a river bed dried for building work and then, at the end of thebuilding period, to allow the river to run freely again.

The problem of providing parking, particularly in conurbations isgenerally known. The solution of the problem by means of conventionalmultistory or underground car parking garages often fails due to theproblem of preparing the building site and to the complicated procedureinvolved in obtaining building authorization, together with therelatively high building costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved garagefor parking vehicles in order to solve the parking problem in the caseof cities bordering a lake or corresponding river.

This and other objects of the invention are attained by a vehicle parkwhich includes a large container, which is constructed in a shiphull-like manner and can be placed beneath the surface of the water andwhich is provided with at least one parking level. A tubular tunnelconnected to the lake or river bank for carrying vehicles and persons isconnected, for example, by flanging to the container.

The aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the inventionwill, in part, become obvious from the following more detaileddescription of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing, which form an integral part thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side view of a garage for parking vehiclesbelow a water surface, according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the garage according to FIG. 1 on a largerscale;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a section of the garage according to FIGS.1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 is a section along line IV--IV of FIG. 3, on a larger scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

To illustrate the invention in the form of a general survey view, FIG. 1is a side view of a vehicle park or garage 50 for parking vehicles,preferably cars, below a water surface. It is possible to see in FIG. 1in profile cross-section a topographical structure of a bank, e.g. alake bank. In this topographical structure, 1 is essentially a naturallake bed, 2 is the surface of the bed, 3 is the water and 4 is the waterlevel surface. The mobile parking garage 50 is stationed at the intendedlocation, preferably in the vicinity of a point on the banktopographically corresponding to entrance and exit 55, 60 to and fromthe parking garage and, at a corresponding depth with respect to thewater surface, the garage 50 is locally fixed by appropriate fixingmeans 25, 25' and 26, 26', e.g. is installed in a floating manner. Forstabilizing the parking garage 50, local position weights 70, 70' arearranged at the top of the parking garage 50. These weights are arrangedin correspondingly provided and preferably longitudinally andtransversely subdivided basins or tanks. The weights can be constitutedby reinforced concrete parts, rubble stone, etc. Individual tanks 29',30', 31', 32'and 33', only some of which are shown in FIG. 2 and whichare provided for the individual weights (not shown in FIG. 2) arelongitudinally limited by webs 28, 28', 28" (FIG. 1) and transverselylimited by webs 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34 (FIG. 2).

As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the parking garage 50, shown there on alarger scale, is comprised of e.g. a hull or large container, whichcomprises a floor or bottom 45, two longitudinally oriented, verticalouter or side walls 40, 40' and two substantially transversely oriented,vertical end walls 35, 35'. On the side facing the water surface 4, theparking garage 50 is closed by a cover 45' arranged roughly parallel tobottom 45 and extending over the entire length and width of the garage.The substantially hull-like parking garage 50 has a non-shown cavity orhollow space formed by the outer walls 40, 40' and 35, 35', the bottom45 and the cover or top 45' and which, as shown in FIG. 2, is subdividedby means of intermediate floors or bottom walls 46, 47, 48 intoso-called parking levels, there being three such levels A, B and C inthe exemplified embodiment. Between the lower floor 45 and theintermediate floor 48, a further cavity D is provided for assisting thebuoyancy of the overall parking garage 50.

FIG. 3 shows the parking garage 50 in a plan sectional view with theparking level A, e.g. subdivided into a plurality of not shown parkingspaces and it is possible to see the side walls 40, 40', the front andrear walls 35, 35' and a longitudinally oriented partition 41. Thepartition 41 arranged on either side and spaced from the two walls 35,35' can be constructed by a number of not shown, individual elementsbetween the individual floors 45', 46, 47, 48 and bottom 45 or, asdiagrammatically shown in FIG. 4, as a continuous partition 41 extendingfrom the floor 45 to the top 45'. On the inner sides of side walls 40,40' and on the two sides of the partition 41, are provided spacedreinforcing elements 10, 10', 10"; 11, 11', 11", 12, 12', 12" and 13,13', 13" (FIG. 3). Externally on the longitudinally oriented side walls40, 40', are provided at least two, correspondingly spaced, column-likeraising and lowering means 25, 25' and 26, 26', by means of which thecomplete parking garage 50 can be leveled during installation inaccordance with the local, topographical conditions and also inoperation in the case of any position changes caused by differentloading. The raising and lowering means 25, 25' and 26, 26' arepreferably individually controlled and operated by not shownconventional sensors operatively connected with the raising and loweringmeans for the leveling of the parking garage 50.

FIG. 3 also shows at 20 and 20', an entrance and an exit staircase,respectively, for pedestrians, these staircases interlinking theindividual parking levels A, B and C, as well as a tunnel 55 on the sidewall 40 facing the bank for driving into the parking garage 50 in thedirection of arrow 55' and a tunnel 60 spaced from tunnel 55 for thevehicles to drive out of the garage in the direction of arrow 60'.

Toilets 15, 15' are also provided on every parking level. According toanother embodiment of the parking garage 50, it is possible to providein the individual walls 35, 35' and/or 40, 40' spaced windows,preferably portholes 36, 36', such as known from the shipbuilding field,and with correspondingly associated underwater lighting equipment 37,37'.

It is pointed out that for the sake of clarity, FIGS. 2 and 3essentially show only two end regions of the parking garage 50 withoutthe central part having roughly the same distribution. The parkinggarage 50 is, e.g. 120 m long, 30 m wide and 12.5 m high. The parkinggarage 50 subdivided into parking levels A, B and C and having the abovedimensions has roughly 480 parking spaces. It is possible to drive inand out of the individual parking levels A, B and C, e.g. in the mannerknown from multistory car parks.

FIG. 4 shows, on a larger scale and in section along line IV--IV takenin FIG. 3, the parking garage 50 in profile. The parking garage 50 isprovided with laterally arranged support means 25a , 26a , the parkinglevels A, B and C separated by the individual floors 45, 46, 47, 48 withthe gap D, and the tunnel 60 externally sealingly flanged to the sidewall 40 by any suitable not shown means. Tunnel 60, which is shown inpartly staggered form, is preferably constructed by cylindrical tubesand is subdivided by an intermediate floor 61 into a vehicle level 62and a pedestrian level 63. FIG. 4 also shows pipes 64, 64' or the likearranged in the tunnel 60 and leading in not shown manner into theparking garage to provide necessary power and fresh air supply, as wellas for removing exhaust gases and the like. The tunnel 55 which is notshown in FIG. 4 is constructed preferably identically to tunnel 60.

The above-described underwater parking garage 50 can e.g. beindustrially manufactured from steel or reinforced concrete parts in thesame way as a hull and is subsequently transported to its intendedlocation and is preferably towed in a floating manner thereto. At theinstallation point the parking garage is flooded, so that as a result ofits own weight and the weight of the water received therein it is sunkto a depth which is not prejudicial to shipping, e.g. to about 10 mbelow the water level. The raising and lowering means 25, 25' and 26,26' correspondingly provided on the side facing the bed are respectivelydeeply drilled or pressed into the latter. The two tunnels 55 and 60 arethen installed, followed by the fitting of the necessary weights 70, 70.The water is then pumped out, and finally the parking garage 50 isbrought into the necessary horizontal position by means of thehydraulically actuated raising and lowering means 25, 25' and 26, 26'.The parking garage 50 is not bound to a particular location and ifnecessary can be installed at a different point on the bank. In a notshown variant, it is possible for supporting the raising and loweringmeans 25, 25' and 26, 26' carrying the parking garage 50 forinstallation to take place on correspondingly arranged foundationsintroduced into the lake bed. The foundations will remain in situ ifthere is a position change with respect to the parking garage 50.

There has been disclosed heretofore the best embodiment of the inventionpresently contemplated. However, it is to be understood that variouschanges and modifications may be made thereto without departing from thespirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. Vehicle garage for parking vehicles below watersurface of a lake, a river, or the like, comprising a large containerconstructed as a ship-hull and which can be stationed below the watersurface, said container including at least one parking level, and atleast one tubular tunnel arranged on said parking level and connected toa lake or river bank for a transit of vehicles and persons; nd raisingand lowering means for raising and lowering the garage with respect tosaid water surface to level the garage depending upon topographicalconditions and loading-dependent changes thereof.
 2. Vehicle garageaccording to claim 1, wherein said tubular tunnel is flanged at said atleast one parking level.
 3. Vehicle garage according to claim 1, whereinsaid raising and lowering means provided for positional changes of thegarage are activated and controlled by sensors.
 4. Vehicle garageaccording to claim 1, wherein the garage is mounted on correspondingfoundations.
 5. Vehicle garage according to claim 1, wherein saidcontainer has one longitudinal side roughly parallel to the bank and isconnected to the bank by two tubular tunnels spaced from each other andflanged to a side wall of the longitudinal side of the container. 6.Vehicle garage according to claim 4, wherein said tunnels are eachsubdivided into a vehicle level and a pedestrian level by means of anintermediate floor for separate conveying of vehicles and persons intoand out of the garage.
 7. Vehicle garage according to claim 1, whereinsaid container is subdivided into three parking levels, which areinterconnected by respective entrances and exits for vehicles and bycorresponding staircases for pedestrians.
 8. Vehicle garage according toclaim 1, wherein said container is made of steel.
 9. Vehicle garageaccording to claim 1, wherein said container is made of reinforcedconcrete parts.
 10. Vehicle garage according to claim 1, wherein said atleast one tubular tunnel is provided with respective pipes for power andfresh air supply and for removal of exhaust gases.
 11. Vehicle garageaccording to claim 5, wherein each tubular tunnel is provided withrespective pipes for power and fresh air supply and for removal ofexhaust gases.
 12. Vehicle garage according to claim 1, furthercomprising weights placed on a top of said container for stabilizing thegarage in an operative position at the intended location.